Just An Ordinary Girl

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

[Hong Kong 2016] Ibis Hong Kong Central & Sheung Wan Hotel

During our recent trip to Hong Kong, we stayed in Ibis Hong Kong Central & Sheung Wan Hotel, a 3-star hotel located in the heart of Sheung Wan. Conveniently located, the hotel is a 10 minutes walk from the Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal and 8 minutes walk from Sheung Wan MTR station. The Queen Street tram station right in front of the hotel.

How To Get To Ibis Hong Kong Central & Sheung Wan Hotel

Ibis Hong Kong Central & Sheung Wan Hotel provides free shuttle to and from Airport Express Hong Kong Station. To board the free shuttle, simply catch the Airport Express at Hong Kong International Airport and alight at Hong Kong Station. Interchange with the Airport Express Shuttle Bus Route H1 at Hong Kong Station to the hotel. The shuttle generally runs every 20 minutes and will drop you by the entrance of the hotel.

Upon arriving, you will find Starbucks located at the ground floor of the hotel building. There are plenty of convenience and grocery shops, restaurants, local eateries, shops and currency exchange located around area.

Trolleys are provided right at the entrance for guests to use when loading and unloading luggage. The trolleys offer a great help to guests carrying bulky luggage.

Just like 4-star Panda Hotel that I have stayed in during my last December trip to Hong Kong , the reception counter is not located at the ground floor of the building
To reach the reception area, we have to make our way through the building and take the lift up to the 5th floor.

Check in and check out were hassle free and staffs were generally very friendly.

There was a restaurant beside the reception area, offering breakfast at extra charges. The hotel also provide two computers with internet connection for guests to use.

After confirming our booking and personal details, we collected our keys and proceeded straight to our room located on the 12th floor. Access to the rooms is via room card operated lifts. You will need your room key card to access the lifts. But surprisingly, we can access other floors with our room key card. We realized this when we accidentally pressed on the wrong floor!

So we wonder what is the point of having key access elevator when anyone can board and get off at any floor they want. I hope the hotel management can improve on that.

Furthermore, some of the elevators only go to the 5th floor. We have to frequently switch elevators at the 5th floor in order to make our way down to the ground floor, which can be very annoying.

We booked a Standard 1 Double Bed City View room for two nights. Measuring 183 sq.ft, the modern air-conditioned room is equipped with a queen sized bed with a private en-suite bathroom, built-in closet desk and a small sitting area. Fitted with laminate parquet flooring, the room was very clean and compact but well designed to maximize your comfort.

Featuring floor to ceiling windows and high ceiling, giving the room a very spacious look. It was not very big, but a decent size, especially by Hong Kong standard. There were sufficient space for us to put our luggage and walk around the room.

The bed was large but very firm while the pillows were too soft and flat. It was a little uncomfortable to sleep.

Air con is controllable but does not seem to be working. It makes no difference however we turn up or down because the temperature in our room will just stay the same. Even when we set the temperature to 28°C, our room was still freaking cold. Eventually we have to switch the air con off and the room was still cool enough during hot sunny days.

The room also features a 32 inch LCD TV. but TV choices are a bit limited. But free WiFi access is available throughout the entire building. We were happy to enjoy fast and strong WiFi connection throughout our stay at the hotel. Whether we were in our room or other areas of the hotel, we have no problem accessing the internet with our phones.

I am actually a little bit surprised because the Panda Hotel does not offer free WiFi to all its guests. It was a very frustrating experience.

The room has a full length mirror - just prefect for guests who love to take outfit photos.

Clean and fresh bath towels were provided in the room and were hang on the back of the door. However, there was no face towels provided.

The bathroom was small but well-furnished and clean, with a separate walk in shower enclosure. There was no bathtub in the bathroom.

Since this is a budget hotel, there was very limited toiletries provided. Hair dryer and face tissue are mounted on the wall to save space.

On the vanity top, only one toothbrush and hand soap were provided. There was no shower cap, shaver or comb, so please remember to prepare your own toiletries if you are planning to stay at this hotel.

The shower area was small, but with great water pressure. Shower gel and shampoo are provided in a hanging tube in the shower area and does not come out easily. I have press hard to squeeze it out a little at a time while showering.

Other room amenities includes a mini fridge and in room safe box. However, I believe the safe box might be a little small to accommodate a laptop. The built in closet has very limited hanging space for clothes. This might be a problem for long term stay guests.

Basic coffee and tea making facilities are also provided in the room.

However, the hotel provides only one complimentary bottle of water in the room, even though there were two of us. Most of the hotels we had stayed in usually provide two bottles in the room.

We were also shocked that the housekeeping staffs have attempted to enter our room without knocking. When they realized that we were still in our room, they just walked away without even apologizing. It was a very bad experience for us.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience, but not awesome. After all, this is just a 3-star hotel. You basically get what we paid for so do not expect too much other than clean accommodation.

The room was very basic but adequate, providing everything you will possibly need for a comfortable stay. For some reason, I feel that the 3-star Hotel Ibis is much better than the 4-star Panda Hotel. Well, probably due to the fact that WiFi is actually free. But I would appreciate that the housekeeping staffs at least know how to knock before entering our room.

Despite the name "Central" in its name, it is not really near to the Central District. The hotel is located in Sheung Wan area, which is an older part of Hong Kong, between Central and Sai Ying Pun, along Des Veoux Rd.

Des Veoux Rd is commonly known as the Dried Seafood and Tonic Food street where the whole stretch is lined with dried seafood shops selling various types of dried seafood products and Chinese herbal medicine.

You can purchase dried abalones, scallops, Chinese medicinal herbs and other pungent products for soups and tonics from most of the shops along the street. Prices are of course, not cheap. Around the hotel, there are also lots of eateries offering authentic Hong Kong delicacies - just perfect for food lovers!

I would not recommend this hotel to people who would like to shop till they drop during their time in Hong Kong. However, the hotel will be a very good choice for budget and business travelers travelling on a limited budget. The price of the room can be considered cheap by Hong Kong standard. You might want to consider Ibis Hong Kong Central & Sheung Wan Hotel if you are looking for a cheap accommodation with excellent location and decent rooms.

Be sure to follow me on my Facebook or Twitter to get the latest updates on my Hong Kong trip! Also, do not forget to share my blog posts with your family and friends if you find them helpful. In the meantime, you might also want to check My Wanderlust page for some of my other travel adventures.

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